1. Prosecutors Allege that Ishler Pushed Bettig Off the Ledge

The TV station said that, once they arrived at the quarry, “police said Ishler pushed Bettig off an 80 foot ledge, causing his death.” They had walked up to a “high wall” in the quarry, says the criminal complaint.

Police say the pair originally planned to drown the professor at a Delaware beach, WGAL says.

Bettig and Geier “shared a special love story,” the news site quoting Hill as saying, adding that Hill said that “at one point Geier and her baby were homeless” and Bettig took them in “and gave them a place to stay.” He was planning to propose, she told the news site.

WGAL said police say “Ishler stated that he did not like the way Bettig treated Geier” while they were at a Delaware beach shortly before the murder, saying “Bettig was ‘ignorant’ to Geier and was upset about how she was raising her child.”

4. Ishler Staged The Scene After Pushing The Professor Off the Quarry Ledge & Geier Was Upset With Bettig, Police Say

A photo of Bettig that a former student posted on Facebook.

Geier allegedly texted Ishler, “So ready I am pissed off,” and told police that she was referring to “being ready to kill Bettig,” said Bradenton.com, adding that Bettig upset “Geier when he critiqued how she was raising her son,” authorities said.

Court records say that Ishler told police he heard a “crunch” when Bettig landed at the bottom of the quarry and then left the scene.

He later returned to stage the scene with items including water bottles, a flashlight, a small hand rake and a bag that he took from Bettig’s residence, an affidavit said, according to the Centre Daily Times.

NBC 10 Philadelphia says “Geier told police that she and Ishler also agreed to stage the scene with items such as Bettig’s car to make it appear as if he was alone, and they agreed to report him missing three days later.” The TV station says the pair reported that Bettig was missing to police on Aug. 15 and said he might have gone to California, authorities allege.

5. Bettig Was a Long-Time Communications Professor Who Received a Teaching Excellence Award

He authored the book, “Copyrighting Culture: The Political Economy of Intellectual Property” (1996, Westview Press) and co-author, with Jeanne Lynn Hall, of “Big Media, Big Money: Cultural Texts and Political Economics” (2002, Roman & Littlefield). “He also has published a number of book chapters and journal articles and presented many conference papers on political economy, intellectual property, and media industries,” says the Penn State website.

The site adds that Bettig was “a longtime member of the Union for Democratic Communications and has served as a member of the organization’s steering committee since 1993. He won the Excellence in Teaching Award from the College of Communications Alumni Society in 1996 and has been named Faculty Marshal five times. He also has chaired and served on dozens of scholar, master’s and doctoral thesis committees.”

The Union for Democratic Communications wrote on Facebook of Bettig’s death, “Ron was an excellent teacher and scholar who had lasting impact on his students. I know many of us at UDC were influenced in some way by Ron’s work and mentorship. UDC as an organization was always so important to Ron for the intellectual and political work we do and for the friendships he treasured. He always loved calling us his ‘Com-rads.'”

The Penn State website says Bettig received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois and his Bachelor’s degree from UC-San Diego.

22 Comments

Hey blackie kkk,, that was a rather insensitive thing to say, it makes me feel like wanting to say something like, we should bring back slavery and put the negro back into the filth that they look like.

Well, at least there is typically a motive with white on white crimes, unlike the black people that kill each other for sport. How many white gangs do you see attack other white gangs because of the color of their clothing?